Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 705 Self-Deception
Li Tingbiao wasn't startled by Pei Lun's suddenly raised voice; instead, a self-deprecating smile curved his lips. "Oh. So that's what it is. Please ask."

"Hehe." Pei Lun chuckled softly, reverting to his usual casual tone. "When did this happen?"

Li Tingbiao frowned, as if struggling to recall: "...Autumn should have been last autumn."

“Autumn? Which day?” Pei Lun asked.

"I can't quite remember the exact date," Li Tingbiao said, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

"July? August? Or September? You have to give me a date," Pei Lun prompted, his voice low.

“September. It’s supposed to be September,” Li Tingbiao said, his voice dry and uncertain.

"Twenty-three?" A deep voice suddenly interrupted. Gu Shibo remained staring at his teacup, as if the words had come from the bottom of the cup.

Li Tingbiao's body trembled, as if he had been awakened. His empty eyes focused for a moment: "Yes! The 23rd, September 23rd! His Highness summoned me alone in the rear garden of Changdeok Palace on September 23rd." After saying that, he quickly lowered his eyes again and resumed that numb obedience.

"What did Li Hui instruct you to do?" Pei Lun pressed, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table.

"What did His Highness instruct me to do? What did His Highness instruct me to do?" Li Tingbiao took a deep breath, a barely perceptible struggle and ruthlessness flashing across his face, as if resisting the inevitable answer. "His Highness probably wants me to find a reliable person to infiltrate Qingyun Palace," he paused, his voice hoarse and strained, "to eliminate Queen Dowager Kim."

"You did as instructed?" Pei Lun took a sip of tea, his tone devoid of emotion.

"Hmph," Li Tingbiao hummed through his nose. "I did as I was told."

"How many people did you send? When did you make your move?" Pei Lun pressed on relentlessly.

"There's only one person," Li Tingbiao answered quickly, but then hesitated when it came to the time. "The time... is it probably evening?"

Which night?

"September."

"September 24th?" Gu Shibo's voice rang out again, still low and deep, still without looking up, as if stating an insignificant fact.

“Yes! It was the next night!” Li Tingbiao glanced at Ju Shibo and spoke faster.

"How did they get in?" Pei Lun also glanced at Ju Shibo.

"How else can we get in? By climbing over the wall, of course." Li Tingbiao's tone sounded somewhat impatient.

"Climb over the wall?" Pei Lun said. "There are military forts and watchtowers everywhere outside Qingyun Palace. How did your men manage to climb over them right under their noses?"

"Does Master Pei think that I should have an inside man?" Li Tingbiao asked rhetorically.

"You're asking me?" Pei Lun smiled.

"If I don't ask you, who should I ask?" Li Tingbiao rolled his eyes.

"I just want to know how your assassin managed to sneak in right under their noses. As for anything else," Pei Lun shrugged, glancing at Ju Shibo, their eyes meeting.

"We shouldn't need an inside man, right?" Gu Shibo looked at Pei Lun cautiously and probed, but seeing that he had no intention of replying, he turned to Li Tingbiao and gave him a look.

“That’s right! No inside man, no inside man!” Li Tingbiao understood immediately, and while he spoke with certainty, he also cursed, “Those people in the Inner Guard are all useless, sleeping during the day and dozing off at night! They don’t need any inside man at all. The assassin I sent out was a first-rate scout. He sneaked in under the cover of night, bypassing them!”

“It’s on record.” Pei Lun put down his teacup, nodded to the flag bearer in charge of recording, and then asked Li Tingbiao, “And then, what did your top-notch scout do after infiltrating Qingyun Palace?”

"After he sneaked in," Li Tingbiao's eyes became blank and empty again: "Hey! Couldn't you have just written it down and let me sign it?" Li Tingbiao was burning with anger. It was one thing to take the blame, but now he had to make up a crime on the spot!

"Write what? This is a proper interrogation!" Pei Lun's voice was much louder, but his eyes only showed amusement, giving the impression that he was teasing a small pet.

"Heh," Li Tingbiao paused, then shook his head with a wry smile. "A proper interrogation."

“Go on,” Pei Lun continued, “What did your top-notch scout do in Qingyun Palace? Tell me in detail.”

For a long time, Li Tingbiao had been a nobody, doing dirty work. He'd rarely even been to the Xiyu Hall, let alone the Qingyun Palace. In other words, he barely knew what the Qingyun Palace looked like. But now, Pei Lun insisted on questioning him seriously, so he could only frown and try his best to fabricate a story:
"He scaled the wall and sneaked in, intending to go to Queen Dowager Kim's bedchamber, but he got lost after wandering around for a while. Fortunately, Her Highness had already moved to Changdeok Palace, and Gyeongun Palace was almost deserted, so he wasn't discovered. Around midnight, he finally found Seokwoldang, but the gate was locked, so he had to scale the wall again. This was his first time entering Seokwoldang, and he didn't know where the Queen Dowager's bedchamber was. He could only search like a headless fly, one place after another. On his way to find the bedchamber, he unfortunately bumped into someone."

"Who did you run into?" Pei Lun raised his hand to interrupt Li Tingbiao.

"Who else could it be but Princess Zhenming!" Li Tingbiao couldn't help but roll his eyes, but he kept his head down so Pei Lun didn't see it.

“That’s not right,” Pei Lun said. “It’s pitch black. Your men could only see a shadow at most. How can you be sure that it was Princess Zhenming?”

"If that person isn't Princess Zhenming, then what am I supposed to be carrying!" Li Tingbiao's voice was noticeably louder.

“No, no, no,” Pei Lun shook his head and said, “Of course we know now that it was Princess Zhenming, but the person you sent probably didn’t know it was Princess Zhenming at the time.”

Li Tingbiao was stunned for a while before he understood what Pei Lun was talking about. "Ha! Is it necessary to make things so complicated?"

“Of course. Since we need to report to our superiors, we must investigate every detail thoroughly.” Pei Lun glanced at the clerk in charge of taking notes. The clerk shook his head cooperatively, indicating that he was not taking notes.

"Alright." Li Tingbiao sighed deeply. "He didn't know who he had bumped into; he just thought it was a troublesome palace maid, and fearing she would scream, he stabbed her."

"Just casually stabbed him," Pei Lun didn't like Li Tingbiao's impatient, flippant tone, but for now he just shrugged. "Hmm, go on. What happened after you killed him? Did you find Queen Dowager Kim?"

“No! He panicked immediately after killing the person. He couldn’t find the person and was afraid of being exposed, so he rushed back!” Li Tingbiao’s tone was urgent, clearly showing his anger.

"After he left Qingyun Palace," Pei Lun took another sip of tea, "where did he go back to?"

"My home!" Li Tingbiao clenched his fist. "He's back to report to me!"

"How did you report back?"

"He said he made a mistake and killed an unidentified person."

"So what?" Li Tingbiao finally exploded. He abruptly raised his head, a flash of ferocity crossing his eyes. "So?! What else can I do! We messed things up! Are we just going to leave them to die?!" He practically roared, then, as if all his strength had been drained, he said dejectedly, "I killed him with my own hands, then dragged his body outside the city and buried it! Is that alright?"

“Don’t shout,” Pei Lun tapped the table with the lid of his teacup. “I heard you clearly.”

Pei Lun's voice was not loud, and the sound of him tapping the table was not loud, but the anger that had suddenly risen in Li Tingbiao's heart dissipated like smoke.

"Did you handle the body all by yourself? Did anyone help you?"

"No."

"Think about it again. A human corpse isn't so easy to dispose of. There should be someone to help," Pei Lun reminded him.

"Then I'll have it."

"Who?" Pei Lun smiled.

"My personal male servant."

"what is it call?"

"Li Jingnong." Li Tingbiao didn't hesitate much and casually threw out a name.

"Have you arrested him? This person?" Pei Lun asked, looking at Gu Shibo.

"He's been arrested." Ju Shibo nodded quickly. "The shortest of the four personal servants."

"Only him?"

“One person should be enough, right?” Li Tingbiao said.

“That’s true, with the two of you, we could dig a hole and bury the body.” Pei Lun thought for a moment, “What about the assassin’s body? Where did you bury him?”

Li Tingbiao frowned, his eyes blank again. "A Taoist temple outside the city...it seems so." He tried hard to recall what Li Erzhan had taught him, but he just couldn't remember. So he looked at Ju Shibo. "...Was it in the west or east of the city?"

"Is it the Qingyun Temple in the east of the city?" Ju Shibo subconsciously glanced at Pei Lun.

“Yes! East of the city, that is, Qingyun Temple in the east of the city! If you go and dig now, you should be able to dig it up, right?” Li Tingbiao was speaking to Pei Lun, but his gaze was fixed on Ju Shibo’s face.

“With the consent of the principal.” Pei Lun ignored Li Tingbiao.

"Here!" Gu Shibo suddenly raised his head, as if someone had stabbed him in the neck.

"Tomorrow morning, take your men to the Qingyun Temple in the east of the city to excavate the assassin's remains. That shouldn't be a problem, right?" Pei Lun asked with a smile.

"No problem, I'm ready at any time!" Ju Shibo replied, clasping his hands in greeting.

"Very good." Pei Lun nodded with a smile. Then he beckoned to the Imperial Guard officer in charge of recording. "Finished writing? Let me see."

The wolf-hair brush left the paper, but the junior officer neither put down the pen nor handed the completed confession to Pei Lun. "Commander Pei, it seems you haven't asked the assassin's name yet."

Pei Lun paused for a moment. "Tsk! Oh dear, I forgot." He slapped his forehead and then asked Li Tingbiao, "What was that assassin's name again?"

"What's his name?" Li Tingbiao turned and threw the question at Ju Shibo, a sickly smile on his face.

"Uh..." Gu Shibo's eye twitched. "How would I know?"

"Quickly tell me a name!" Pei Lun looked at Li Tingbiao.

“Name. Name.” Li Tingbiao frowned, and after a long pause, he finally managed to squeeze out, “Jiangnan Zhi.”

"Who is this person?" Pei Lun nodded to the junior officer, signaling him to continue writing.

"Who is it? Ha!" Li Tingbiao sneered. "It's just a widower, an orphan with no parents, no children!"

“Alright.” Pei Lun nodded, and when the junior officer stopped writing again, he held out his hand. “Let me see.”

"Please." The junior officer put down his pen, first pressing the top sheet of paper to the bottom, before handing the entire stack of confessions to Pei Lun.

Silence fell again in the room. Li Tingbiao glanced at Pei Lun, then stared at the candlelight; something seemed to be churning beneath his numb gaze. He suddenly looked up, his gaze no longer empty, but sharp with a desperate resolve.
However, just as Li Tingbiao was about to speak, Pei Lun spoke first. He said to the man in the small flag, "There's no problem, just a few typos. Make a copy and have him sign it." After saying that, Pei Lun put down the confession, stood up, and was obviously preparing to leave.

“Master Pei!” Li Tingbiao shouted.

"What? Is there anything else to add?" Pei Lun yawned, stopped at the door, and turned half of his face to the side, the candlelight casting a clear line of light and shadow on his face.

Li Tingbiao abruptly stood up, the chair legs scraping loudly on the stone floor. He braced himself on the edge of the table, leaning forward, his gaze fixed on Pei Lun's half-face, his voice hoarse and tense: "My matter… is over! Are my two good-for-nothing sons still safe?!"

"Tsk." Pei Lun slowly turned around to face Li Tingbiao. There was no anger on his face; instead, it was as if he had heard something interesting.

“Vice President Li,” Pei Lun’s voice trailed off, a lazy smile playing on his lips, as if he were discussing something of life or death. “Being able to sit here, say what needed to be said, sign what needed to be signed, and peacefully drink this cup of tea,” he gestured to Li Tingbiao’s almost untouched cup of tea on the table, “is already an immense blessing for you.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Li Tingbiao's face, contorted with fear and suppressed rage: "Others, like the Zheng Hang family, are probably already 'on their deathbed' and preparing to 'take their own lives.' Zheng Hang and his son will be on the same roof beam, 'committing suicide out of guilt.' What else do you have to worry about?"

Li Tingbiao's pupils suddenly contracted, his knuckles turning white from gripping the edge of the table as he stared intently at Pei Lun. Pei Lun, however, no longer looked at him, as if he had merely uttered a casual, insignificant remark. He lazily waved his hand, as if shooing away an annoying fly. Pei turned and pushed open the door, his figure quickly disappearing into the shadows of the porch outside, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Gu Shibo took two steps forward, then shrank back, almost lunging at the table. His voice was urgent and low, filled with an urgent need to reassure, “Brother Shigui, don’t worry! Don’t worry, everything has been settled above. I, Gu Shibo, guarantee it with my life! As long as the Prince of Guangchang is safe and sound, the sky won’t fall! Your mother and son will be fine!”

"Is it safe?" Li Tingbiao asked weakly, his voice pleading.

"It's all settled! I won't go into too much detail, but this morning, Lord Yuan announced at the Yizheng Hall that a grand ceremony for commendation and demerit would be held, which would be conducted by the Guangchang Prefectural Governor. This outcome is all thanks to you!" After saying this, Ju Shibo didn't linger any longer. He simply patted Li Tingbiao on the shoulder and then followed Pei Lun in the direction he had left, disappearing outside the door.

Li Tingbiao slowly loosened his grip on the table, his body seemingly drained of its last ounce of strength, and slumped back into his chair. He no longer looked towards the door; his empty gaze returned to the flickering candlelight, as if that was the only place where reality resided.

(End of this chapter)